Refrigerator car



J1me 1938. A. e. sANcRdFT REFRIGERATOR CAR Filed Feb. 26, 1937 2 Sheets$heet 1 f//5 Hr 7-0 ENE Ks.

June 14, 1938. A. G. BANCROFT 2,120,345

' REFRIGERATOR CAR Filed Feb. 26, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I fiIM/MA E/VrO/P: 5 W

Patented June 14, 1938 2,120,345 REFRIGERATOR can Alfred G. Bancroft, Dunn, N.

mesne assignments,

0., assignor, by

to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application February 26, 1937, Serial No. 127,848

5 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerator cars of the kind wherein the hatchways in the roof are defined by hatch frames that are supported by a framework that is sustained by the side plates 5 of the car. The principal object of the present invention is to utilize the hatch frames for supporting overhead ice bunkers beneath the roof of the car, to provide for the ready removal and replacement of such bunkers without disturbing 10 the carlines. hatch frames, roof sheets or roof insulation, and to provide for simplicity and economy of construction and compactness of design. The invention consists in the construction, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a refrigerator car embodying my invention, parts being shown broken away in the region of one of the hatch sheets,

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the 25 line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 4 is a' vertical transversesection through the roof at one of the hatchways on the line 44 30 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 through one side of said hatch frame and the parts associated therewith.

the upstanding flange of an longitudinally 5 at each end thereof and with one or more of the The roof sheets I, hereinafter reroof sheets 2 disposed between adjacent hatch sheets.

Each of the hatch sheets I has two hatchway.

openings arranged one on each side of the ridge and provided with rigid hatch frames A for admitting ice or other cooling medium to overhead bunkers B located beneath said sheets. Located between each hatch sheet and the bunkers located therebelow is a framework comprising a pair of spaced parallel carline members l2 that extend from side plate to side plate with their ends suitably secured thereto and .themselves connected by pairs of cross-frame members l3 that cooperate with said carline members to define openings beneath the respective hatchway openings in said hatch sheet. Said carline members and cross-members preferably comprise oblique metal angles arranged with their sides converging downwardly.

As shown in the drawings, each hatch frame comprises a metal frame having a relatively tion I fitting within the opening defined by the carline members l2 and cross-members l3 and a shoulder l6 that rests flatwise upon the tops of said members. The wide upper portion Id of the metal hatch frame A has upwardly converging side walls that terminate at the top of saidframe in an inwardly extending flange ii that constitutes a seat for a hatch cover (not shown). The narrow lower portion l5 of said frame has downwardly converging side walls that conform to the downwardly converging sides of the carline members and cross-members and form a seat for a tapered hatch plug (not shown). The

' hatch frame is preferably secured to the carlines and the cross-members by welds l8 added continuously along the edges of said members; and the hatch sheet is preferably provided around the hatch opening therein with an upstanding flange l9 that is secured to the exterior side face of the wide upper portion H of said hatch frame by a weld JD added continuously to the top edge of said flange.

As shown in the drawings, narrow, downwardly converging lower portion l5 of the hatch frame A extends below the supporting framework therefor where it has a continuous outstanding flange 2| formed by oblique metal angles 22 that are rigidly secured to said frame by means of welds 23 added continuously along the top and bottom edges of said angles. The flange 2| extends outwardly substantially flush with the lower edge of the hatch frame and is located above the general level of the roof, a relatively narrow lower porthe relatively overhead bunkers B therefrom. These overhead bunkers are preferably arranged in alinement longitudinally of the car in two rows on opposite sides of the ridge, being spaced apart at the ridge and the bunkers on the same side of the ridge being spaced apart at their adjacent ends. Each bunker preferably extends continuously between adjacent hatchways with its ends located below and provided with top openings that register with the lower ends of the respective hatch frames. These openings are defined by a frame 25 of metal angles disposed with one flange down and the other facing inwardly and secured flatwise to the underside of the hatch frame flanges 2| by the bolts 2i. The bunkers are provided with sheet metal top, bottom and side walls and are reinforced at their corners by other angle irons 26. If desired, the metal walls of the bunker may be stiffened and strengthened by corrugations or other reinforcing-members (not shown).

The roof is provided above the bunkers with a relatively rigid insulating board lining or cell-' ing 21 that is sustained by wooden nailing strips 28 secured in the angles of the carline members and also by supporting strips 29 and 30 along the sides and ends, respectively, of the car. The space between the ceiling and the roof sheets is filled with a suitable fibrous insulation 34.

The hereinbefore described construction has several advantages. from the hatch frames independently and without the aid of the roof sheets. The bunkers may be readily removed and replaced without disturbing the hatch frame, the hatch frame supporting framework, the roof sheets or the roof insulation, access being had to the securing bolts of said bunkers through the hatchways. Each bunker may be made as long as desired and may be provided with as many hatchways as are necessary to insure uniform loading of the bunker. By arranging the hatch frame supporting framework above the bunkers in the space provided for the roof insulation, the headroom of the car may be increased without increasing the outside height thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A refrigerator car roof having a plurality of hatch frames therein provided below said roof with outstanding flanges, a bunker located beneath said roof and having top openings in its The bunkers are suspended opposite ends in communication with said hatch frames, and bolts for detachably seeming said bunker to the outstanding flanges of the respective hatch frame around the top openings in said bunker.

2. A refrigerator car roof having a plurality of hatchways spaced apart longitudinally of the car on opposite sides of the ridge, hatch frames for the respective hatchways, and bunkers located beneath said roof and extending longitudinally thereof on opposite sides of the ridge, the bunkers on each side of the ridge extending between and in communication with and sustained by two adjacent hatch frames on said side of said ridge.

3. A refrigerator car roof having a plurality of hatchways spaced apart longitudinally of the car on opposite sides of the ridge with the hatchways on one side of the ridge disposed opposite the hatchways on the other side thereof, hatch frames for the respective hatchways, bunkers located beneath said roof and extending longitudinally thereof on opposite sides of the ridge, the bunkers on each side of the ridge extending between and in communication with and sustained by two adjacent hatch frames on said side of said ridge, and a plurality of frames extending transversely of the car from side to side thereof above the level of said bunkers, said frames being spaced apart longitudinally of the car and each frame supporting a hatch frame on one side of the ridge and the corresponding hatch frame on the other side thereof.

4. A refrigerator car roof having a rigid metal hatch frame therein, a bunker located beneath said roof and having an opening in its top communicating with the lower end of said hatch frame, and means for detachably suspending said bunker from said lower end of said hatch frame, said means constituting the sole supporting means for said bunker.

5. A refrigerator car roof having a plurality of rigid metal hatch frames therein, a bunker located beneath said roof and having openings in its top communicating with the lower ends of the respectve hatch frames, and means for detachably securing said bunker to said hatch frames around the openings in the top of said bunker, said means constituting the only support for said bunker.

ALFRED G. BANCROFT. 

